Boone County assistant prosecutor Susan Boresi

High-profile Columbia murder suspect to appear in court today

June 20, 2023 By Brian Hauswirth

We may learn new details this afternoon about a defense attorney’s attempt to have his Columbia client committed to the state Department of Mental Health (DMH).

Attorney Jeffery Hilbrenner represents 21-year-old Emma Adams, who’s charged with murdering an autistic Mizzou student in January, then dragging his body through a yard and setting it on fire. Boone County assistant prosecutor Susan Boresi has filed a court motion, objecting to Hilbrenner’s motion.

Boone County Circuit Judge Jeff Harris has scheduled a hearing for 1:30 today at the Boone County Courthouse. The court will ultimately determine whether or not Adams has the mental capacity to proceed. That includes whether or not the defendant has the mental ability to understand the charges against her.

Adams is charged with second degree murder, armed criminal action and two other felonies.

The Columbia Police Department’s graphic probable cause statement says Adams admits stabbing and killing 21-year-old Samuel Michael Clemons, formerly of Jefferson City. The court documents say Clemons’ remains were then placed inside a firepit and burned. Court documents quote Adams as telling MUPD officers that she killed the victim in self-defense after being beaten.

Accused Columbia murderer Comfort’s pre-trial conference is today

June 9, 2023 By Brian Hauswirth

A Columbia man charged with killing his wife in 2006 will appear in-person at the Boone County Courthouse this afternoon for his pre-trial hearing, ahead of next week’s scheduled trial.

41-year-old Keith Comfort is charged with second degree murder for the death of his wife Megan. Her remains were found in the Columbia landfill in 2019.

Defense attorney Kevin O’Brien is expected to argue self-defense at next week’s trial. The Columbia Police Department’s probable cause statement quotes Comfort as telling police that his wife was frantic and swinging her arms at him, after she allegedly “ripped someone off” during a drug transaction. Comfort is quoted as telling CPD detectives that he strangled his wife before placing her body in a black garbage bag and throwing the body into his Amelia street apartment dumpster near the Columbia Country Club.

Jury selection in Comfort’s trial is scheduled to begin Monday morning. Boone County Circuit Judge Jeff Harris will be calling 85 prospective jurors to the courthouse on Monday morning. Veteran Boone County prosecutor Susan Boresi is handling the prosecution, while Counselor O’Brien is the defense attorney.

Today is the first time that we see Comfort in-person at the Boone County Courthouse. Boone County Judge Harris has directed the sheriff’s department to transport the 41-year-old Comfort to the courthouse for his 1:30 pre-trial conference, ahead of next week’s trial. Previous court hearings have been via video from the Boone County jail.

June 12 jury trial date appears to be a go in Columbia’s Keith Comfort case

May 31, 2023 By Brian Hauswirth

A Boone County judge has scheduled a June 12 jury trial for a Columbia man charged with strangling his wife to death in 2006 and placing her body in a garbage bag.

939 the Eagle News was in the courtroom on Tuesday, when Judge Jeff Harris scheduled the five-day trial. Judge Harris will be calling 85 prospective jurors to the courthouse on June 12.

41-year-old Keith Comfort’s trial was delayed in February, after both sides learned that murder victim Megan Shultz was arrested in June 2006, about two months before she was killed. Judge Harris said the arrest report “contains information that may be relevant,” according to online court records.

Defense attorney Kevin O’Brien is expected to argue self-defense at trial.

The Columbia Police Department’s probable cause statement quotes Comfort as telling police that his wife was frantic and swinging her arms at him, after she allegedly “ripped someone off” during a drug transaction. Comfort is quoted as telling CPD detectives that he strangled his wife before placing her body in a black garbage bag, then throwing the bag into his Amelia street apartment dumpster near Old Highway 63.

939 the Eagle News was also in the courtroom in February, when defense attorney O’Brien told the court that the last person to see Megan before she died saw her strike her husband. Boone County assistant prosecutor Susan Boresi told Judge Harris in February that a slap across the face is no excuse for murder.

Judge Harris is aware of the extensive news media coverage that the Comfort case has received in mid-Missouri. The judge says if a prospective juror has heard something about the case, he will speak to them in private in chambers. He notes that hearing something about the case doesn’t exclude a potential juror.

The judge also plans to have three alternates for the five-day trial. He’s scheduled one more pre-trial hearing in the case, which will be held on June 9. Comfort will be in the courtroom that day. He remains in the Boone County jail.

High-profile Columbia murder suspect to appear in court Monday

April 10, 2023 By Brian Hauswirth

A Columbia woman charged with the horrific murder of an autistic Mizzou student is set to appear in Boone County Circuit Court this afternoon.

21-year-old Emma Rose Adams is charged with second degree murder and three other felonies. She’s pleaded not guilty.

Boone County prosecutors say Adams killed Mizzou student Samuel Michael Clemons on January 10, then dragged his body through a north Columbia yard and setting it on fire in her fire pit. The graphic four-page Columbia Police Department’s probable cause statement says officers found a smoldering human body in the fire pit, with an odor described as burning flesh.

Court documents quote Adams as telling Columbia Police that she killed Clemons in self-defense after he beat her. However, the Columbia Police Department’s probable cause statement says Adams never called 911, and that Adams “attempted to destroy physical evidence by burning the victim’s body.”

Boone County assistant prosecutor Susan Boresi is prosecuting the case. Ms. Adams is represented by defense attorney Jeffery Hilbrenner.

April Columbia murder trial delayed

March 21, 2023 By Brian Hauswirth

30-year-old Staffone Fountain, who’s charged with first degree murder, remains jailed without bond in Boone County (photo courtesy of the Boone County Sheriff’s Department website)

The trial of a man accused of killing his infant daughter and putting her remains in a tire near Columbia’s McKnight Tire north of I-70 has been delayed.

Boone County Circuit Judge Kevin Crane has approved a joint motion for continuance from the prosecution and the defense. 30-year-old Staffone Fountain is charged with first degree murder and abandonment of a corpse. Fountain appeared in court on Monday via video from the Boone County jail with his attorney, Jennifer Bukowsky. Boone County assistant prosecutor Susan Boresi tells 939 the Eagle that she and Counselor Bukowsky agree that more discovery needs to be done before the case is ready for trial

Fountain is charged with killing his infant, Samone Daniels. He and defense attorney Bukowsky requested that Judge Crane dismiss the abandonment of a corpse charge on Monday. Judge Crane denied that motion.

Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones says investigators believe the infant had been in the tire since 2017.